Among the devices for the therapeutic treatment of the human body some are studied to stimulate the mobility of the fingers of a hand or of a foot. These devices are particularly useful for the recovery of this mobility in patients who had surgical interventions or traumas for which a period of immobilisation of the limb has been necessary.
The same devices are also used to make a massage of the fingers. Therefore the massage is not made only to improve their mobility, but also as a relaxing therapy of the person. It is in fact known that the mobility of the fingers, as well as of other parts of the body, is strictly connected to the brain, so that a stimulation like the passive movement of the fingers, if appropriately made, may lead to a relaxation of the mind.
Typically, the prior art devices have a shape suitable to receive the end part of the fingers to be moved. Moreover, they are provided with a plurality of duly moved catching elements of the fingers, often constituted by real thimbles.
The type of movement, of course, represents a basic aspect of the prior art devices. Some of them, for example, have mechanisms that generate a repeated movement of traction and extension of the fingers. This movement typically takes place simultaneously for all the fingers of the hand.
Other devices generate a lateral translating movement of the fingers which takes place on the plane defined by the palm of the hand. In other cases to this movement is also associated a movement of traction and extension which, added to the former, allows the movement of the fingers with two degrees of freedom.
In any case, all movements are typically generated by a single motorization organ, and by a mechanic transmission of motion that generates coordinated and repeated movements of the fingers of the hand. This, in fact, allows to have muscles and tendons constantly work.
However, the above devices have some known drawbacks.
First of all, as mentioned, they generally induce movements with only one or two degrees of freedom. This means that the muscles and tendons of the fingers are stimulated only in some directions in the space and not in all directions, so losing the possibility of a rapid rehabilitation or of a complete massage.
Moreover, as mentioned, the movements are coordinated and not randomized.
It has previously been said that the massage of the fingers of the hands as well as of the feet, may induce a state of relaxation of the mind. This is due to the fact that the mind is generally strained to control the movements of all the parts of the body. If a randomized and irregular movement is induced to one of these parts, the mind loses the control thereof. In this case, therefore, the mind is relieved of a part of the work of controlling the body, so as to free it from this occupation. It is to be considered that it has been estimated that at the cortical level the control of the movement of the fingers and of the hand takes about the 35% of the sensory-motor area of the whole body. In the case of the fingers of the hand, a repeated and coordinated movement does not allow to induce the mind to lose its control on them.
This drawback influences also therapies for the motory rehabilitation of the fingers following atrophy, surgical operations or traumas. In fact, if the mind continues to try to control the movement of the fingers, it induces a muscular opposition to the said movements. This leads to a state of tension of the muscles and of the tendons which counteracts the motory rehabilitation. In fact it is known that any form of muscular rehabilitation is accelerated if the passive movement of the muscle is made when the muscle is relaxed.